English Camp

This past weekend I headed up to a camp/farm about 45 minutes northwest of Potchefstroom (in the middle of nowhere) for the 3rd-Year English for Education camp.  The instructors do this for each year (1-4), at different points throughout the year (they were up there in April with the 2nd years), and the purpose is to get do extra literature work that cannot be done throughout the semester.   This past weekend  there was a total of 37 students,  five lecturers and two tag extras (me and another guy named Scott who works with ESL).   The lecturers actually got through about two weeks of work this past weekend with the workshops that were planned.   It was a jammed packed weekend filled with numerous lectures, endless presentations, bonding activities, readings, and literary criticism.

One of the reasons they have this weekend is because since the English for Education department includes literature NWU is not convinced that the students get enough literature and theory,  so this weekend camp is to justify that they are learning more literature, criticism, and working in English as a medium.  The instructors argue back at NWU that since the students are teaching English (which includes, grammar, writing, instruction, and a little literature) that they do not have to be experts at British literature because they need to know how to teach as well.   Throughout the program the students read a fair amount of literature (about 10 novels, various, short stories, etc) and a majority of them will not get to teach it once they enter the school.  It is also important to remember that for most of these students, English is their 2nd language and their first is Afrikaans so to read this much literature in their 2nd language is impressive (I think).

We left on Friday around 3:00 and arrived at the camp by 4:00.  I drove up with Maryna who I had not gotten a chance to really speak to one on one yet.  We chatted the whole ride up.  She is easy to get along with, talk to and is very sweet.  Anyway, we arrived at the same time as the other instructors as well as the students (since many of them followed us) and we unpacked everything into our cabin (see pic).  Our cabin was a bit away from where the students were staying so there was privacy.  Since there were 7 adults we slept in three rooms (see pic) (5 females in one, one female- she snores really badly in another, and one male room) but the cabin was huge and had 7 rooms with at least 3-5 bunk beds per room.  It was not the best cabin I have ever slept in but it was perfect for the weekend (plenty of showers with hot water, and a couple of bathrooms).   I brought my sleeping bag, a down blanket and as many layers as possible in order to avoid being freezing throughout the day as well as through the night.

All the sessions were held in a rondavel (yes, that's right another hut, see pic) but this one had electricity, tables, a projector, and a massive cross (did I mention it was a church camp).  Around 4:30 everyone filed into the hut and we started the first workshop.  We had two workshops on Friday (one included literature periods- honestly, very boring).  The second class took place after dinner.  We finished up around 10:30 and everyone headed to bed because you could tell how exhausted everyone was.

One Saturday we had four sessions.  They were broken up from 9-11, with a cocoa and marshmallow break from 11-11:30.  This lasted a bit longer but it was because there was a small zip line (Land Fufi in Afrikaans) on the premise so all the students, instructors, and myself decided this was the time to try it out and see how it went.  Even though the base of this was not more than 5meters off the ground, I was petrified but did it anyway. Once I jumped off I was no longer scared.  However, I did not go back up again!  Some students made friends with one of hte pigs that roamed the camp grounds (see pic).  Then another session till 1:30 and then lunch at 2.  Two of the instructors are very into wine, so one of them had a chilled bottle of Chardonnay for the instructors to drink for lunch.  My type of people!  The 3rd session of the day was spent playing English board games so that students could work on speaking English. My group played Cranium as well as Balderdash.

The students then had an hour break while we set up the next activity- a wine tasting.  The students had no idea about it except that they were asked to bring one formal accessory (some girls brought jewelry, two guys wore ties, one guy had a bow tie, etc).  They all entered into the room after we had set it up with white tablecloths, spit canisters, wine glasses and a ton of wine (Mandie ordered way too much and she went home with at least a case and a half unopened).  Obviously, this was my favorite part of the weekend because Mandie and Maryna (see pic) know volumes about wine so they picked some good ones for us to try.  We tried two white, two reds (both Pinotages my favorite), and a dessert wine.  Since you can drink in ZA  at 18, it was no big deal to drink with the students (since at home this would never happen).  Most of the students, liked the wine enough but some were not a fan (the put it in the bucket).  I on the other hand was in heaven and plan on taking at least two of those bottles back with me!  But it was not all about wine, the purpose was to show students that everyone has different taste's and perspectives and that can be applied to wine as well as poetry.  It was a clever analogy and since I do not enjoy poetry most of the time, this was a great excuse to try some new wines.   After dinner, we had a short session and then around 9 everyone dispersed.  I chose to sit around the fire the students had started with some of the students, Louise (one of the instructors) and Scott.  It was a clear night with a very bright full moon that allowed you to see the mountains and the surrounding area despite it being dark.  It was a cold night but the fire was really delightful so I  ended up staying out till much later than I had planned.

Sunday, everyone (and I mean everyone) was exhausted so we started at 8:30 ended at 10 and was headed home by 10:30.  We took a group picture and it was nice that they included me (lower left).   Overall, I am glad I was invited and that I ended up going.  It was a totally different experience and I think a very insightful one for me.  I give the lecturers credit for doing this four times a year because I am not sure I would be able to (I didn't even like away swim meets as a coach)!  I saw all the lecturers today and it was a rough Monday for everybody.

This week I am attempting to get all my surveys filled out as well as set-up a couple interviews before heading to Gaborone, Botswana for the weekend.